Elevator-shaft-door latch.



E. B. CHAPIN..

ELEvAToR SHAFT DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION F'lLED IMLG, |916.

1,22 Lw, Patented Apr. 3,1917;

nummnunlumupqumnunnnnuuu11"1"aliiiiiiiiIlHIh-JllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIFIIIIIIIII l Ox EARL B. CHAPIN, F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO EDWINSTARK,

OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, AND ONE-THIRD T0 FENTON G. CHAPIN, OF ST.LOUIS,

MISSOURI.

ELEVATOR-SHAFT-DOOR LATCH.

Application led January 6, 1916.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL B. CHAPIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Elevator-Shaft- Door Latches, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to elevator shaft doors and the like and moreparticularly to the means employed for locking the door in its closedposition.

One object of my rinvention is to provide a latch for sliding doors thatis only operable from one side of the door, thus rendering the inventionpeculiarly adapted for use on sliding elevator shaft doors, where it isdesired to have the door locked in its closed position in such a mannerthat it cannot be unlocked from outside of the shaft.

Another object is to provide a latch for sliding` doors that is positivein action and which cannot be rendered inoperative by jarring orrattling the door.

Another object is to provide a latch that comprises a few simple partswhich are not liable to get out of order.

A still further object isto provide a latch of the character referred tothat can be easily applied to any type of sliding` door now in use.

Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafterpointed out.

Figure 1 of the drawings is an elevational view of a portion of anelevator shaft and door provided with a latch constructed in accordancewith my invention; and

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail sectional views taken on the lines 2 2 and 3-3,respectively, of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention,A designates an elevator shaft provided with a door openingvlthat is controlled by a sliding door B, said door being suspended from atrack 2 by means of suitable rolling hangers 3 of well knownconstruction. v

A vertically-disposed rod or shaft 4 is journaled in brackets 5. and 5aon the inner face of the door B adjacent the front edge thereof, saidrod being provided at its upper end with a laterally-disposed extensionor crank arm 6 that coperates with a lat- 55 erally-projecting portion7L on a bracket 7 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

Serial No. 70,671.

that is secured to the inner wall of the elevator shaft A, saidlaterally-projecting portion 7a, having its front edge 7b arranged at aright angle to said wall and having its rear edge 7o curved or inclined,for purposes hereinafter appearing.

A coiled expansion spring 8 surrounds the shaft 4 adjacent the upper endthereof, one end of said spring being anchored to the bracket 5 in anysuitable manner and the opposite end being connected to a pin 9 arrangedon a collar 10 that is rigidly connected to the shaft 4, the tendencyofsaid spring being to turn the shaft 4 to theV left lor in thedirection indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 2. Means is provided forlimiting the rotary movement of the shaft 4 in both directions, themeans herein shown consisting of a member 11 secured to said shaft, andprovided with oppositely-inclined faces 11a and 11b that coperate withthe inner face of the door B, as shown clearly in Fig. 8.

A handle 12 of any suitable design is provided for manually turning theshaft 4 against the tension of the spring 8, said handle being arrangedadjacent the lower end of said shaft so as to be within convenient reachof the operator.

When the latch is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and in full lines inFig. 2 the door B is securely locked against sliding movement in adirection to uncover the opening 1, owing to the fact that the crank arm6 of the shaft 4 lies in front of the straight edge 7" of the bracket 7.l/Vhen it is desired to unlock the door, the operator grasps the handle12 and turns the shaft 4, against the tension of the spring 8, to theright, or to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. This movementcauses the crank arm 6 to move to the dotted line position shown in Fig..2, where it is out` of contact with the bracket 7. The face 11b on themember 11 engages the inner face of the door B and limits furtherturning of the shaft 4, and consequently, a continued pull by theoperator'on the handle 12 will move the door bodily in the direction ofthe arrow b in Fig. 2, so as to uncover the opening 1 in the shaft A.

When the door is in its open position, the operator releases the handle12, and the spring 8 causes the shaft 4 to turn auto-4 matically to theposition shown in full lines v rection.

Vhen it is desired to close the door the operator moves the same towardthe left, and as said doornears its closed position, the crank arm 6will engage the curved edge 7b of the 'bracket 7, and, riding past thesame, will drop yin frontof the straight edge 7 t, thus locking the doorand preventing the same from being opened except by turning the shaft 4Lto such a position that the crank arm 6 clears the bracket 8.

yFrom the foregoing description it is obvious that when the door is inits closed position it is impossible to open the same from outside ofthe shaft, owing to the fact that all of the parts constituting thelatch are arranged on the inside of the elevator shaft. This is a verydesirable feature of my invention, as it absolutely precludes the dangerof persons outside Yof the elevator shaft opening the door and fallingdown the elevator shaft or being injured by a passing elevator. Myimproved latch comprises a few simple parts that can be produced at alow cost of' manufacture, and said device can be easily applied to anytype of sliding door, it being only necessary to attach the brackets 5and 5a to the door and the bracketl 7 to the door frame.

While I have herein shown and described my invention as being applied toa horizontally movable elevator shaft door, I wish it to be understoodthat I do not limit myself to this particular use, as the invention isapplicable to vertically movable doors Yor may be put to various otherlobvious'uses, and while I have shown the door as being equipped withonly one locking device arranged at one end of the operating shaft, itis obvious that thisv arrangement could be duplicated by simplyextending said shaft and applying a similar locking device at the.

opposite end thereof.

I am aware that many minor changes may be made in the construction andarrangement of parts herein shown and described without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is:

l. A latch for sliding doors, comprising a vertically-disposed shaftrotatably mounted in brackets on the door and having an operating handleadjacent the lower end thereof and an offset portion at its upper end,said offset portion having a vertical eXten- Copies of this patent may'be obtained for sion at the outer end thereof that extends upwardlyabove the top of the door, and a bracket rigidly secured to the doorframe and having an integral lateral extension that lies above the doorand in the same horizontal plane as said vertical extension, saidlateral extension having one of its side edges straight and its oppositeedge curved for the purpose described.

2. A latch for horizontally sliding elevator shaft doors, comprising avertically-disposed rock shaft mounted on the door and extending from apoint adjacent the upper edge of the door to a point within convenientreach of the operator of the elevator, Said shaft having an integraloffset at its upper end provided with a vertical extension, an abutmenton said shaft adjacent the lower end thereof that coperates with theinner face of the door to limit the movement of said shaft in eitherdirection, a bracket on the door frame that coperates with saidextension to hold the door locked in its closed position, and a handleon said shaft for rocking the same so as to move said extension awayfrom said `bracket so as to unlock the door.

3. A latch for horizontally sliding doors, comprising a bracket securedto the door frame above the door and having a horizontal portion thatlies across the top of the door, said horizontal portion having one ofits side edges straight and its opposite side edge curved, avertically-disposed rock shaft journaled in brackets on the inner sideof the door and having a horizontal portion at the upper end thereofthat lies under said bracket when the door is closed, said horizontalportion having an upright extension that cooperates with the side edgesof said bracket, means on said shaft that coperates with the inner faceof the door for limiting the rotary movement of said shaft, a handle onsaid rock shaft for moving the same in one direction to such a positionthat the vertical extension on the horizontal portion thereof is out ofengagement with said bracket, said handle being also utilized for movingthe' door bodily to its open position, anda spring for moving said rockshaft in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses, this thirty first day of December' 1915.

EARL B. CHAPIN.

lVitnesses WELLS L. CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington,ID. G.

